Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The prince married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen, and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history.
The couple had four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
A statement from Buckingham Palace said: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”
A Greek prince, he married Elizabeth in 1947 playing a key role in modernising the monarchy in the post-World War Two period, and behind the walls of Buckingham Palace being the one key figure the queen could turn to and trust.
“He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,” Elizabeth said in a rare personal tribute to Philip made in a speech marking their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997.
A spokesperson for the duke had announced on February 23 that he was being treated for an infection, and that he was “comfortable and responding to treatment” at the time. Philip’s spokesperson also said the duke was “not expected to leave hospital for several days.”
He was then transferred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, a specialist cardiovascular hospital in London on March 1.
Philip underwent a “successful procedure” for his heart condition on March 3, and the palace said in a statement sent to Insider the following day that he would “remain in hospital for treatment, rest, and recuperation for a number of days.”
Philip’s hospital admittance was not an emergency or COVID-19 related, royal correspondent Victoria Murphy reported. The duke and Queen Elizabeth received the COVID-19 vaccination in January of this year.
Philip previously spent four nights at the same hospital in December 2019 for “treatment in relation to a preexisting condition,” a palace representative said at the time. In June 2017, he was admitted there for treatment for an infection.
The royal couple had marked their 72nd wedding anniversary in November 2020.
They married shortly after World War II, in which he served as a member of the Royal Navy. In addition to a lifetime standing by the Queen’s side, he went on to serve as a figurehead for charity organizations like the World Wide Fund for Nature.